Create – Managed Create

Two essential ingredients fuel the ability to create innovative solutions. The first is the divergent stage, the ability to open your mind and remove inhibitions and blockages that prevent the generation of new solutions. By doing this you will be able to create a rich pool of innovative ideas that can be used as a wellspring for the next stage in the process. The second stage is to converge and consider the pool of ideas and filter out those that do not add real value to the change proposition.

These two processes can include the following actions:

	Challenge the status quo and break through the mentally that strives for the avenge level of mediocrity that often drives the creative process.
	Randomise and brainsorm for new ideas.
	Explore each of the ideas and see which ones start to offer some real change options. The underlying theme at this stage of the process is to avoid any form of judgement or criticism.

	Appraise each of the ideas and filter out those that clearly do not help resolve the original issue.
	Test the remaining ideas, often by filtering them through a criteria sieve to identify which of them can deliver a valued output.
	Evaluate each of the remaining options against the core requirement set out in the Challenge stage to ensure that the end solution actually deals with the initial problem.

One of the most important objectives in any consulting engagement is the drive to create a solution that is both innovative and practical. It is essential to ensure that the full creative processes are stimulated but with the caveat that any idea can be delivered within the given constraints. To achieve this delicate balance it is important to ensure the managed creativity rather than freewheeling creativity is adopted.